A combination of techniques—from computation to medicinal chemistry—helps scientists pick better drug targets, often because of gaining a better understanding of how diseases work. Those improvements help patients and job hunters. Instead of reducing the opportunities in this field, the increasing specificity of the drug discovery business keeps spawning new opportunities in academia and industry.

By doing some homework ahead of time, it's possible to select a career-oriented Bachelor's or Master's degree. In fact, some of today's professional Master's programs aim specifically at giving students experience in research labs or companies. In this article, experts from academia, industry, and government give advice for training and grabbing the best position.

The advances in genotyping and functional genomics open new approaches to environmental science, including public health issues. A better understanding of epigenetics, for example, could reveal environmental triggers of cancer and other diseases. Here, experts in the field describe the most exciting advances in these areas and the best training to land a job.

Everything in an adult organism comes from stem cells. As scientists learn to better understand and direct the path of these cells, it will enhance basic biological and clinical research. The experts interviewed here see a long future ahead for researchers in these areas.

Intellectual property and technology transfer play important roles in today’s science. A scientist’s career can change dramatically through patents, which can spawn companies or funds for research. Moreover, some scientists create exciting careers by moving from the bench to a technology transfer office in academics, government, or industry.

Women leaders in science—from a university president and policy makers to an academic researcher and industrial scientists—see improvements in this field’s gender balance, but they also know that more must be done. An increasing number of women are entering scientific studies in college, but better ways are needed to keep these women in science and to help them grow into leadership positions.